Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-02-13
PURE WATER.
An Interesting Paper from DIR. George l.
Garrison.

city by filtration was unoer ulscuSsioh, l"
was argued by those opposed to the meas
ure, that the agents used to ~coagulate and
p~recipitate matters held in solution and in
suspension, would mar the quality OF the
water after being thus treated. To relute
this argument / desire to offer the testi-
mouy Of Prof. Chandler.
NEW YORK, January %, 1887.
To The Water Commissioners Of the City Of
NerbErgh:
In accordance with your request Tor an
opinion upon the proposed system OF mira
ton and publication of the water supply
of Newburgh, which is now unde consld-
Grafton by your Board, l have the honor
TO report that l have carefully considered
the proposition in all its details and that l
have made such Investigations rs seemed
necessary. First, as to the efficiency OF
the proposed apparatus and process. Sec
ondiy. az 10 tine healthfulneSs of the pro-
cess and the materials to be employed.
l have carefully read all the documents
which you have placed in my hands IN
which the details of the apparatus and its
mode of operation are given; a variety OF
reports rs to the success OF the process III
other localities, and the report OF Captain
Thomas w. Symons made to the Wa De
partment and transmitted to the United
States Senate in response to a special reso-
lution in which a similar project for the
notification of the water of the City OF
Washington was fully discussed. Every
thing contained in these various dOcu-
ments is entirely satisfactory, and l think
| should have felt warranted III expressing
an opinion favorable to the plans proposed
for the City of Newburgh without investl-
rating the matter further. Finding, how
ever. that the process was in full operation
in New Jersey, on the Raritan River, |
made a visit to the Water Works of SOmer-
vile, from which this town as well rs the
Town of Raritan is supplied. made a
careful inspection Of the apparatus at this
point, saw it in full operation, and also
the four filters emptied and cleaned. The
apparatusi is very compact. the washing OF
the fltering material is almost automatic;
/ il is accomplished in a few minutes, and
appears to be perfect in its operation and
efficiency. The quantity of alum being
used at the time ! was there, was twenty
five pounds per day; on 1000 gallons o.!
water this would be l75,OOO grains of
alum, or about one-third OF 4 grain per
gallon.
At the time of my visit the water of the
Raritau River was not heavily charged
with mud, but it contained 4 sufficient
quantity OF very fine material to give II Il
milky OpaleScence. This Is II condition
which imposes the most severe attacks on a
fltering system, hut l found the water rs
it came from the filters was rs clear rs
crystal. | took samples OF the river water;
the same after the alum had been added,
and again after filtration, and carefully
examined them to verify the statements
made to me by the man in charge, ] found
that there was without doubt an addition
of alum to the water before 1t went to the
filters, and | should judge in about the
proportions mentioned by the attendant.
/ found that the filtered water did not cOR-
tain u frdcc of alum, it having been entirety
remOred By the filter. / then experimental
myselfupOn the Raritan water TO see lfthe
addition of a small quantity ofalum would
actually effect ut once the cOagulatIOnS
| claimed, and | found that it did 50; that
nv investigation of the samples completely
| confirmed the claims of the Filtering Com
pany, and the statements of the man III
charge of the apparatus ut Somervil!e.
Ii then occurred to me that it would be
desirable to ascertain if the water of the
City of Newburgh would behave in the
same way when submitted to the action of
the cOagulautS which it is proposed To Use,
so | visited your city, rs you are aware,
and took a sample OF water from Washing
ton Lake and also q sample from the city
hydrant. These | have carefully tested IN
connection with the proposed process, and
| find that OH adding alum to the New
burgh water there is an immediate cOagu-
latiOn and that the llOcculent p~rccipIt.te
is one that can be reGdiiy rcmOrcd by .Wtrd-
ton. The examinations which | made OF
the Raritan water, as well rs of the New
burgh water, satisfy me that u process
which is successful at Raritan cannot fail
to he successful at Newburgh.
In conclusion, l would say that in my
opinion the plan which You now have I'M
der discussion is simple, efficient and
economical, and that no objection rhdtercr
can be found to it on sanitary grounds; in
fact it seems to he the only feasible plan
which you can adopt, as the only alterna-
tive would be q system OF filter G d
which are much more CrpeaSirc to construct
and much more crpeHSirc to maintain and
not as satisfactory in the end.
Respectfully yours,
G. +. CHANDLER, NJ. D., PH.D.,
Chemist and ASSaycr.
1t was also urged that it was IN expert
ment and would occasion al outlay of
money, that the city would not he juSti-
fed in making.
As to the second charge, there are
scores of towns and cities all over this
country that can testify from actual eX-
p~erience that the filtration of water on a
large scale is not an experiment. As to
the outlay necessary to construct the plant,
it is n small sum. when compared to the
benefit that would be derived thereirOm.
From So, 900 to 100000 is all that would
be required to erect n plant, of sufficient
| capacity, to filter the water used for all
purposes in this city.
Besides. no money is required in any
case, until the result guaranteed is accom-
plished, viz, Icdter Of standard purity girFn
TO consumers.
Testimony from the highest sanitary au-
~torities in the land are not wanting in con-
firmatiOn of all | have said in favor of
water filtration. Doubling ThOmases are
respectfully referred tn the official reports
of Gen. Gotten Greene, Memphis, Tenn.
DR.. Smart, Washington, ID. c.; Engineer
J.. J. X. Croes, New York; Capt. Thomas
W. Symans, Washington, d. c. Prof.
Brenneman, Cornell University, New York
city; the Board of Health, Atlanta, Ga;
Col. s. II. LOckett, New York city,
and Austen & WILDER, Rutgers Col
lege. But one other question pre-
sents itself. Does the water distributed to
consumers in this city require publication?
tn which there can he hut one answer.
The details of the pollution of ouS drink
ing water are too disgusting and too well
known to admit of repetition here. For
information upon the subject the reader is
referred to the interesting and scientific
report of DR.. Smart, Of the United States
Army, to DIR. Reeves, Secretary of the
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